Anyone else watching this "reality" show on Nat Geo? It focuses on tow trucks on Donner Pass in the winter. Ken and I talked a bit about it the other day. Watching another episode right now where Sam (#1 a-hole on the show) is deciding which vehicle he could tow for more money. The show does little to promote tow drivers ("tow dogs" on the show) as road heros. Who runs a 2WD tow truck in snow country that can't even get out of it's parking spot? They do. Who runs a truck with the main cable frayed? They do. The fun part is watching the big rig tows and how they manage the crashed big rigs. There are a few good guys on it, but there are lots of problems with "reality" on the show, where Donner Pass is touted as "most dangerous freeway in the country" (wrong - I-95 in Florida holds that distinction). Every radio call (so far) that supposedly is from CHP is fake. Lots of fake traffic camera views. They even show the Northern Lights - uh, won't be seeing that over Donner very often! Everybody is lucky to be alive up there according to the show. Most vehicles must honk when they pass cops and tow trucks. I should make a list! I'm surprised I survived so many trips over I-80.

The one part that's true is the nuts driving around up there in storms. Driving to Reno the Sunday before Christmas, I was appalled at the mass lack of skill dealing with driving in snowy conditions. I don't mind driving up there during a storm, but not with all those idiots.

Anyway, I find I have to suspend my sense of reality and just make it amusing. Anyone else survive watching it?

The "Drama" that is artificially created, is pretty steep. The one that made me laugh, was him telling the asian guy he'd put his chains on for $140. Really?

I decided to find out more about it....apparently it was all filmed over two weeks last March, when we got dumped on.

According to CHP Sgt. Randy Fisher, crews spent two weeks with them in late spring, capturing truck crashes, cars over I-80's banks, an AWOL military man with illegal weapons and thousands of ammunition rounds, and snow — wet, sloppy, spring snow.

“The CHP's job is to serve the community, to see they get where they want to be, expeditiously and safely,” said Fisher. “We are not SEAL Team 6 — safety is the bottom line.”

Nine full-time film crews hit the Sierra roads, totaling more than 20,000 man hours, with safety also on their minds.

Clearly...the most dangerous part of the job...is getting hit while on the roadside....THAT..is real stuff. Showing the tow truck sliding 1 foot, 7 times to increase the drama of a tow....it's fake as hell. No pun intended.

The last words spoken before a YouTube video is filmed: "Hold my beer, now watch this..."